I Scream, You Scream

We are big ice cream eaters. We like ice cream. We like popsicles. We like it in a dish. We like it in a cone. We like it with birthday cake.

We even like it in a box and with a fox.

I recently received a PR pitch framed around Diabetes Awareness Month about no sugar added ice cream. Would I like to receive some to try?*

But see, here’s the thing. I didn’t.

We are actually customers of this particular brand, one of several brands of ice cream and frozen treats we purchase. But I don’t buy the no sugar added version of their products.

Why?

Because I read labels.

I have always found it curious, the marketing toward people with diabetes. Sugar-free this. No sugar that. Net carbs.

What does it all mean? Should we automatically buy a product because it carries a seal of approval by this diabetes organization or that one? I say no. I say read, compare, and think before putting something into your cart and into the mouths of your children.

I try to avoid sugar alcohols because they can wreak havoc on the digestive system, particularly those of young children. And the reality is that some quote unquote sugar free products have all sorts of artificial sweeteners and sugar alcohols, but not less carbs than the real thing!

I’m going to use Blue Bunny as an example because they have a sugar-free and a regular version.

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The sugar-free version has MORE carbs!

(Even a no sugar added ice cream is going to have sugar because it is made with milk and/or cream which naturally has sugar.)

Do you know what kind of ice cream I really like? Haagen-Dazs Five. Five ingredients in each flavor. That’s it. I always think the least processed foods are the best foods for so many reasons and the Five ice creams really approximate ice cream made in a kitchen, not in a factory.

Now I am craving ice cream! thanks!!
I totally agree about the sugar-free vs regular thing. I worry about the people who don’t know how to read labels and see what they are really getting. Bring on the regular ‘with sugar’ stuff for us!!

When Ellie was first diagnosed, ALL sorts of people emailed me about ‘diabetic foods’ and sugar free this and that. A mom even bought sugr free ice cream for Ellie to have at a birthday party and I remember pointing out to her the carbs were higher than the regular one she was serving to all the other kids!